


under renovations and other spells

by wearealltalesintheend



Series: The Welters Challenge 2019 [1]
Category: The Magicians (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Library-wise, M/M, The Library, Welters Challenge 2019, because fuck the finale, just a snippet of we could have had i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 13:19:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18621439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearealltalesintheend/pseuds/wearealltalesintheend
Summary: They’re all reconvening in the Conference Room.It’s not the first time they’re all together after defeating both Everett and the Monsters, it’s not even the first time they’re all together after Eliot’s been checked out of the hospital, but it’s definitely the first time they’ve been back in the Library.Quentin isn’t sure how to feel.To be fair, that might have more to do with the fact that Alice is sitting primly at the head of the table, a name tag pinned on her shirt. In front of her in the table, there’s a coffee cup in a coaster.*or, Alice calls a meeting to decide on the fate of the Library, sort of. It goes better than Quentin expects.





	under renovations and other spells

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is just a fun piece to pretend the writers didn't fuck up this season, where I guess, everything more or less works out in the end?

They’re all reconvening in the Conference Room. 

 

It’s not the first time they’re all together after defeating both Everett and the Monsters, it’s not even the first time they’re all together after Eliot’s been checked out of the hospital, but it’s definitely the first time they’ve been back in the Library.

 

Quentin isn’t sure how to feel.

 

To be fair, that might have more to do with the fact that Alice is sitting primly at the head of the table, a name tag pinned on her shirt. In front of her in the table, there’s a coffee cup in a coaster.

 

She catches him looking at the cup, smiles something that looks kinda like a grimace, “drinks are allowed in administrative zones,” she explains, and with a wave of her hand and weave of her fingers, identical coffee cups on identical coasters appear in front of them. “Just make sure to dispose of them before re-entering the archives.”

 

“Uh,” says Quentin, which, by the way, is a totally valid response.

 

“Can I trade this for something alcoholic, maybe?” Eliot asks, frowning disdainfully at his cup, but sighs in defeat under the twin withering glares from both Quentin and Margo. Pain medication doesn’t mix well with alcohol and he  _ knows  _ that. “Fine, I suppose I’ll settle for some cream.”

 

Another wave of Alice’s hand and he hums satisfied.

 

“So,” Julia taps her fingers on the table top nervously, flinching away from Penny23’s hand when he reaches for hers with an anxious glance at Kady. “What exactly is happening here?”

 

Kady, sitting at Alice’s right, also with a name tag pinned to her chest– which, again, super weird, in  _ so  _ many levels– clears her throat. “We’re running the Library now.”

 

“I’m the Head Librarian,” Alice adds with a less grimace-ish smile, “Kady is my advisor.”

 

“We did  _ not  _ decide on that name,” she protests, glaring at Alice in what looks like a well-practiced argument.

 

“Hm, can I– just, I have to ask,” Quentin interrupts before they can devolve into arguing, turning to Kady, “is this you, uh, is this you trying to save Penny again? Penny40, I mean– which is cool! We can all, hm, be on board with that! Just, is this it?”

 

_ “No!”  _ Kady glares fiercely at him, knocking back her coffee like it’s Scotch, and– okay, yeah, that’s definitely an Irish Coffee. “We talked. No rescue missions, we’re just running the fucking Library.”

 

“But, the thing with the Hedges?” Josh asks, sipping his coffee, “wasn’t that like, a ticking time bomb or something?”

 

“We resolved that,” Alice announces, “a while ago, actually. When we stopped hoarding magic?”

 

“We’re drafting a deal,” Kady translates, her scowl reluctantly fond. It’s the most diplomatic Quentin’s ever seen her, and, again,  _ so  _ weird.

 

Margo leans back on her chair, smirking. “So we’re taking these bastards down from the inside,” she muses, smirking, “smart. Not as satisfying as burning it to the ground, but I can get behind it.”

 

As much as Quentin hates,  _ hates,  _ the Library, the thought of destroying so many books doesn’t sit well with him, and a quick glance at Julia tells him she shares his sentiment, if the distressed sound she made is anything to go by.

 

_ “No burning anything,”  _ Alice rushes out, half pushing out of her chair, before sitting back down, sheepishly smoothing out her clothes. “And we’re not taking anything down. I–  _ we  _ are reforming this place.”

 

“Right,” Margo drawls, winking, “ _ reforming.” _

 

“That’s not– why are you winking? We really are under renovations– there’s, didn’t you see the signs in the hallway?”

 

_ “Renovations,”  _ Eliot echoes, also winking, and Quentin clutches his hand under the table to make sure he’s still there, he’s not off to the next world-threatening plan yet.

 

“No scheming,” Quentin tries to be stern, half-heartedly glaring, but it kind of devolves into a vaguely constipated frown. “You’re not even supposed to be here– the doctor said bed rest, you know.”

 

“Of course,” he agrees, squeezing Quentin’s hand back, and Quentin should be concerned about the mischievous glint on his eyes, but it’s hard to be worried when all that it brings is a knee-buckling sort of relief and unbridled affection. “I wouldn’t dare think of it.”

 

“Guys, I mean it,” Alice is still having a one-sided argument with Margo, “we’re not destroying the Library–”

 

“No offense,” Julia intervenes, gently like she definitely means full offense, “but your track with executive decisions hasn’t exactly been,” she pauses, searching for the right word, “sound.”

 

“I know,” she looks away, taking a sip of her coffee, and– yup, there’s totally vodka there too. “Which is why I asked Kady to be my Chief Advisor,” she sneaks a grateful smile at Kady, “and all of you, too. This place, all this knowledge– it’s  _ huge.  _ It’s too big for just one person to decide everything, I know this now.”

 

“That’s why we called you here,” Kady continues, covering Alice’s hand in support, “we want you to be advisors too. Help us keep things fair.”

 

“You’re proposing we form a council?” Julia’s eyebrows raise higher and higher as she speaks.

 

“Of sorts,” she allows, “just to keep us from fucking things up too much.”

 

“Or becoming an authoritarian goddamn fascist organization again?” Margo rolls her eyes, but her expression is pure steel. None of them have forgotten how the Library screwed them over time and time again, and just being here is unnerving enough. 

 

“Or that, yeah,” Alice grimaces for real now, earnestly trying to get her point across, “we’re really trying to do better here.”

 

Maybe it’s how she looks neither like the old Alice nor her Niffin self, not exactly older, just–  _ grown up.  _ Or maybe it’s just that Quentin really wants to believe things are finally going their way, just enough for this one thing to work out without any world-threatening scenario. 

 

Or, it’s how Kady seems to be weirdly good at balancing out Alice, and the new slightly colorful touches are, well,  _ hopeful.  _

 

But whatever the reason, it’s enough. “Okay,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair; it’s getting long again, he’s not sure if he’ll cut it yet. “That’s– okay, let’s give it a shot.”

 

There’s a murmur of reluctant agreement and Eliot squeezes Quentin’s hand again, and yeah, this could potentially be a really bad decision, and Margo is trading a look with Eliot that’s frankly troubling, but Eliot is alive, and recovering, and holding Quentin’s hand, and Quentin trusts Margo to keep their scheming to a minimum for a while. 

 

“Good,” Alice breathes, “Phyllis will present you your contracts soon, just–  _ thank you.” _

 

No one’s riding off to the sunset in a happily ever after, but no one’s dying and no one’s possessed and this is quite possibly what their best case scenario looks like, so when Alice asks if they a want a tour of the place and Kady teases her about wanting to show off her innovations, Quentin can stay back and help Eliot out of his chair because Margo and Josh have already said  _ yes  _ and Julia is trying to pretend she’s not excited to see all their archives– it’s the closest thing to peace that Quentin could ever dare picture.

 

Although he has to admit– he didn’t exactly expect it to play out in the Library’s halls.

**Author's Note:**

> hey, if you liked it, you can always send me prompts at [my tumblr.](rad-hoodd.tumblr.com)


End file.
